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Firefox is not showing ads, even if I don't have any ad blockers enabled

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There's something with my Firefox. It's not displaying ads even if I don't have any ad blockers enabled.

I want to support some of the ad-funded websites, so this is a pretty big deal for me.

Tried refreshing Firefox and creating a new profile, nothing works.

What can be the reason?

There's something with my Firefox. It's not displaying ads even if I don't have any ad blockers enabled. I want to support some of the ad-funded websites, so this is a pretty big deal for me. Tried refreshing Firefox and creating a new profile, nothing works. What can be the reason?

Chosen solution

After disabling tracking in about:config, everything works as intended.

It appears that the settings do nothing. Definitely a bug, hopefully will be fixed soon.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (12)

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Can you attach a screenshot and post a link?

  • Use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot
  • Make sure that you do not exceed the maximum size of 1 MB

What security software do you have?

Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) to see if that helps.


There are other things that need attention.

Your System Details List shows multiple Flash plugins.

  • Shockwave Flash 18.0 r0
  • Shockwave Flash 19.0 r0

You can find the installation path of all plugins on the about:plugins page.

You can check the Flash player installation folder for multiple Flash player plugins and remove older version(s) of the plugin (NPSWF32) and possibly (re)install the latest Flash player.

  • (32 bit Windows) C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\
  • (64 bit Windows) C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\
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Among your plugins one refers to Hola. Are you connecting to those sites through Hola or another "indirect" method? It's possible they are filtering to save on bandwidth.

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cor-el said

What security software do you have?

Just the usual Windows Defender. There are no issues with other browsers.

Your System Details List shows multiple Flash plugins.
  • Shockwave Flash 18.0 r0
  • Shockwave Flash 19.0 r0

There are two copies of Shockwave Flash, this might be it. Do I just remove its files? I don't see Flash listed among the installed software.

jscher2000 said

Among your plugins one refers to Hola. Are you connecting to those sites through Hola or another "indirect" method? It's possible they are filtering to save on bandwidth.

No, nothing like that.

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Ok, here's update:

  • I've removed the Flash Player
  • I've removed the Hola plugin
  • Removed Ublock Origin
  • Ran my PC in safe mode

The ads are still not visible. Just an empty space instead of them. I have no idea what might be going on. As I mentioned, other browsers don't have this problem. Maybe it has something to do with "do not track me" configuration?

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Oh, Firefox 43!

I saw an article yesterday about upcoming tracking protection using a list from Disconnect. Could you check for some new checkboxes here:

"3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options > Privacy

In Firefox 41, we only have a "Do not track" checkbox, which sets a header indicating your preference to websites but doesn't block anything. Do you have additional checkboxes like the ones shown in this article:

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/20/firefox-43-tracking-protection-with-blocklist-selection/

The article indicates that some level of "tracking protection" is enabled by default in private windows, but not in regular windows.

See also: What happened to Tracking Protection? (this article doesn't seem to have version-specific information, that might be in process).

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jscher2000 said

Oh, Firefox 43! I saw an article yesterday about upcoming tracking protection using a list from Disconnect. Could you check for some new checkboxes here: "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options > Privacy In Firefox 41, we only have a "Do not track" checkbox, which sets a header indicating your preference to websites but doesn't block anything. Do you have additional checkboxes like the ones shown in this article: http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/20/firefox-43-tracking-protection-with-blocklist-selection/ The article indicates that some level of "tracking protection" is enabled by default in private windows, but not in regular windows. See also: What happened to Tracking Protection? (this article doesn't seem to have version-specific information, that might be in process).

Yes, that was it! For some reason this protection is always enabled for me, even in non-private tabs. Why? Is this a bug, or a not yet explained feature?

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I have turned off all tracking protection and it's still "protecting" me by default.

This is definitely a bug, where can I report it?

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You can file a bug in the bug tracking system here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/

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Chosen Solution

After disabling tracking in about:config, everything works as intended.

It appears that the settings do nothing. Definitely a bug, hopefully will be fixed soon.

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In case anyone else needs to change the preferences in about:config, do you want to mention which ones they are?

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The OP forgot to indicate how to fix the bug, so here is what I had to do:

about:config

then set the flag :

privacy.trackingprotection.enabled

to false

now I see wonderful Ads everywhere ;-)

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Hi Benff, that's actually the default setting, so I don't know how yours got set to true. For anyone reading, there are two different preferences you can flip:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste tracking and pause while the list is filtered

(3) There are two key settings:

  • privacy.trackingprotection.enabled - apply tracking protection in ALL windows, regular and private - default value is false but you can turn it on by double-clicking to switch its value to true; if this master setting is true, the next setting seems to be ignored
  • privacy.trackingprotection.pbmode.enabled - apply tracking protection in private windows - default value is true but you can turn it off either by double-clicking this preference, or using the checkbox on the Privacy preferences (see What happened to Tracking Protection?)